


Gone, Gone, Gone

by Neonblossoms



Series: Home [3]
Category: Stupid Short Eevee Comic (Webcomic)
Genre: (Levin attempting to light people on fire), Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Anxiety Disorder, Arson, Awkwardness, Bolt (SSEC) is terrible at comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fever, Fever Dreams, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Other, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sad with a Happy Ending, Slow To Update, Social Issues, Stargazing, Threats of Violence, Whump, vay has ptsd, yeet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 14:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17448845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neonblossoms/pseuds/Neonblossoms
Summary: When enemies are at your door I'll carry you way from moreIf you need help, if you need helpYour hope dangling by a stringIll share in your suffering to make you well, to make you well





	1. Chapter 1

After the situation with the nightmare, this time Vay had begun to warm up to everyone for once. Sure, he still pretended to be annoyed with their shenanigans when other ‘mon like LKD and Mike and Tike were around, but that was always for the purpose of seeming like the “cool cop” or whatever.

But he was a happier spirit now. Apparently, he’d began to talk through things with Blizz and they’d started to get along a little better. The two of them were a bit distant, but otherwise things were going super well between them, and Vay started to go through the things that happened the lab with him which made it all much easier.

It had also affected Flame as well, the Flareon seemed less distant than before. Apparently Vay had that kind of feeling to other ‘mon that when he could open up, possibilities were endless. It felt nice to see everyone bonding after the lab for the first time in forever.

But Vay still wasn’t always okay.

Nobody had stumbled in on an attack for a while, Vay still had the tendency to run away before anyone could calm him down. It wasn’t as bad as the  _ first time,  _ but he still obviously needed help, he had been hit the hardest from all of those times.

And public attacks? Those never happened, even before he had been confronted about two months ago when Flame had slipped up and admitted something accidentally, and then the first “cuddle party” had happened, but the name had eventually changed to “cuddle pile.” Odd, but that was Eve’s job.

And of course, Bolt, the one with actual anxiety had to be the one to witness an attack firsthand, because it was always him. Troll was going to be laughing his head off, he realized. He hadn’t seen those two in a while.

Now, it had started out simple.

A group of Eevees had begun to crowd and mutter among themselves about drama, like a mini meeting that didn’t concern the leaders. Bolt and Vay were the only Eeveelutions there, meaning they were the ones who would have to deal with any dreaded trouble.

Seemed simple enough… until the attack happened.

Levin had been causing mischief publicly, and Vay had come to stop it personally because Blizz was either busy doing something with Dusk and Daisy or he just didn’t care. It had just become Vay’s job to make sure LKD wasn’t being stupid most of the time, which is where he kept all of his cop antics.

“What are you doing?!” Vay snapped, and Levin grinned.

Levin shrugged with a grin on his face, “It’s none of your bloody business,  _ cop.” _

But Vay wasn’t offended by that. Instead, he rose one eyebrow and grabbed Levin’s wrist, seeing the kit drop something on the grass. He picked it up and looked at him with sincere exasperation, “A match, seriously?”

Bolt watched on the sidelines, noticing as Levin backed away and brushed his paws against his pants as if Vay’s touch was toxic, his face contorting into a cheeky sneer as he stared down the Vaporeon.

Oh no.

Levin was planning something.

“Oh, is the cop scared of a little fire?” Levin chuckled to himself, snatching the match out of Vay’s paws, “Do you want me to set you on fire first, then?”

Vay looked at him like he was stupid. “Do you understand I can just spray it off with my water moves, right?”

But he had easily tensed right up, and Bolt narrowed his eyes at Vay’s reaction. The vaporeon seemed nervous about something, and he had never actually been scared of something Levin had said before.

Levin looked at Vay once again. “Besides, Kevin and Devin already have done the best part of the plan that has to do with all of the fire, I’m just here to do a little… side quest. You stand no chance this time, cop.”

“What?!” Vay squeaked, looked embarrassed at the tone he had given, and repeated in a deeper and more intimidating voice with the necessary amount of venom,  _ “What?!” _

The recipe for disaster, Bolt realized. Vay had broken his serious, gruff composure to one of absolute confusion, which was going to be his downfall.

This wasn’t going to be good.

The other ‘vees around began to whisper among themselves, and Bolt got to stand to his paws, but Levin cut him off and caught his attention by bursting into laughter at Vay’s reaction, and there were a few snorts and giggles around them.

Vay took a step backwards and Levin laughed again, gasping through his laughter as if Vay had never been funnier, “Oh, oh my Arceus! Your face!”

“W-What’s so funny about it?” Vay snapped back, though his shoulders were shivering as if Levin had hit a little too close to home.

“Your voice-” Levin wheezed, “It went so high! What are you, a tiny little kit? Is the cop going to panic about this? Mike! Tike! You need to come see this, oh my Arceus this is sofunnyIcan’twaittoseehowtheythinkofthisoncamera-!”

Levin’s words blurred together in his amusement, and Bolt gaped at how Vay gulped and twisted away, face flushing.

Bolt took a moment to realize that Levin was overreacting on purpose, and it hit him fast. They were obviously overreacting to set something off on Vay, in a sort of verbal bullying tactic. He expected Vay to snap and punch him or call in Blizz, but his response instead was something more surprising.

Vay’s front paws began to shook and he stood up to go bipedal, taking a step backwards with his face flushed.

“Shut up,” He warned, voice thick and raspy with emotion… perhaps fear? Why would Vay be afraid of a bunch of kits in the first place? It just didn’t make any sense, were they triggering an… oh.

Mike and Tike’s heads popped up in the crowd and they suddenly appeared with matches in their paws as well. They looked up at Vay with mocking sneers which turned into obvious laughter just for the sake of being rude.

“What, you gonna cry?” Levin asked. “I knew you were weak and annoying, but I didn’t know you were  _ that  _ bad! Oh, Kevin and Devin are gonna love this! The boss will think it’s even better, haha!”

Bolt’s eyes widened and he got up finally, shoving through the building crowd of Eevees over the argument. Levin didn’t know how Vay responded to torment, nobody did, this was so so bad, he needed to-

Levin said something again, but this time in the voices of all the confused kits, Bolt couldn’t make it out. It was probably really bad, depending on the response that he got, and he personally wondered what.

Vay stumbled and covered his eyes with his arm, taking another step backwards. Heavy, quick panting could be heard from him, and everyone muttered in confusion as Bolt continued to shove through the crowd of curious kits. None of the leaders were around…

“S-Sorry… I…” Vay.

Oh. Oh  _ FUCK _ .

Bolt was too late.

And that caused him to have a watered down reaction in comparison to Vay’s, Troll and Wimp popped up in a matter of seconds. Troll wasn’t helping with him, whispering taunting things to him, while Wimp seemed to share confusion on what was going on.

_ “They’re recording it,”  _ Troll whispered in a slightly more demonic voice than usual, and Bolt wasn’t able to shake off the worry as he pushed Eevees away, hearing Oliver’s confused yelling above the group of kits as he tried to make himself heard, as if genuinely worried for Vay’s health, but he didn’t have time to dwell on why.  _ “He’s suffering because of you. It’s always been because of you. Just give up on him.” _

Levin, in front of him, gasped. “What are you- Oh Arceus, guys! We got the cop in tears! I thought that wasn’t possible!”

Mike was silent as usual.

Tike snorted with laughter. “Told ya, Levin! You coulda never believed me! Wait for it, he’s gonna run away like he usually does!”

But Vay didn’t move.

He crumpled to the floor as Bolt finally got out of the crowd, and he gasped at the response that the vaporeon had given. Vay was definitely having an attack, and even Troll stopped for a moment in surprise, as if he actually hadn’t expected it to happen. Both of them had witnessed everything that Bolt did to help Vay, which meant they knew most of the truth about what had happened now, in the lab…

“Vay?” Bolt forced out.

He rushed over to his brother and patted his back, shooting Levin a glare he didn’t know he could even muster from his fear, blood roaring in his ears as a hybrid of anger and panic washed over him.

Levin took a step back, laughed, and beckoned for Mike and Tike to follow him as they ran off to continue their antics.

Vay seemed to be have trouble breathing, chest heaving as he stared at the ground, paws shaking and tail stiff. His hair had fallen in his face and he gave a few loose sobs and muttered something that wasn’t coherent.

It wasn’t just an attack. It was a full-on flashback.

Perhaps it was the attack that caused the flashback, he didn’t know, and frankly he didn’t care because there were more important matters.

All he knew was that he needed to help his brother even if it was in front of everyone. He couldn’t leave Vay alone to be laughed at and kicked at by all of the wannabe LKD groups in Icedrop.

Nobody in Icedrop really liked their leader to begin with. Not only was Vay strongly opposing to their idea of violence, but Vay rarely showed up for anything unless they did something wrong, which made them confused and offended for all the wrong reasons.

Because they didn’t know how brave their leader was,  _ how absolutely brave and kind and knowing of the past…  _ but how much he was recovering from it. Once Bolt had realized it, he had regretted not acknowledging such a person due to being too wrapped up in Flame and Dawn and normal life as the tendrils of anxiety striked the most at the bravest in an attempt to soften them.

“Vay…?”

The vaporeon muttered something that Bolt couldn’t make out.

As soon as Vay acknowledged him, though, he looked at him fearfully and tensed under his paw, muttering a string of incoherent words once again. Bolt put his paw on Vay’s, trying to whisper something comforting while Troll continued to mock everything he said in a less demonic but jokingly higher voice.

“Vay, you’re not there anymore, breathe,” Bolt muttered, and Vay slowly began to relax, though he was still obviously crying.

The vaporeon stared up at him with deep blue, unblinking doe-like eyes, shivering with his pupils in slits. He was breathing heavily as they met eye contact, and it took him a moment to notice that he probably didn’t even realize he was Bolt and thought that he was one of those… monsters, he liked to call them.

He didn’t have a right to call them Pokemon. They were the reason so many had suffered, and Vay was no exception.

“N-No,” Vay pulled away from his grip, “Go away… Not now… no…”

“You’re home… it’s…” Bolt’s voice broke and all of his calmness and posture chipped away so suddenly that he flinched away for a moment, causing Vay’s breathing to pick up stronger than ever. He then took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He needed to help his brother, even if it meant preventing an attack of his own. 

Vay seemed to regain his breathing after a few moments of silence other than the still crowd of ‘vees gathered around them, but it was still heavy and quick-paced, adrenaline definitely still pumping. He curled up into a ball at Bolt’s side, looking like he was trying to disappear and fade away.

“No no no…” Vay drawled, voice dimmer and quieter as tears still slipped. Bolt needed to help him before everyone realized what was actually going on… not all of these poor kits needed to know that they’d all been through so much…

“I’m…” Vay continued, “I’m sorry… no, I-I’ll stop… I’ll be quiet, I-I promise... no… I’m… so sorry… no-”

Bolt was hesitant to touch him, and he ended up warning him beforehand, “I’m going to have to help you, okay? Just, I’ll… I’ll help…” 

_ Somehow _ , the word lingered in the air, but he didn’t dare utter it.  _ Somehow _ was not a word of comfort, it would just show how unprofessional he was with it, which was not what either of them wanted…  _ needed…  _ Bolt was definitely panicking.

Trying to remember what he had learned from helping himself and helping others - he had to help Dusk once, that had been interesting - he put a paw on Vay’s shoulder once again, but to his relief the Vaporeon didn’t try to stop him. Good sign, though the chant of “no” and “I’m sorry” was getting to his head almost as much as Troll was.

Bolt turned Vay around gently and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, making sure that the Vaporeon had enough control to manipulate how tight the hug was. Violently restraining him would be another trigger, he had to be soft.

The voices of the crowd seemed to be increasing, but Bolt blocked it out. “Vay, it’s me- your brother, Bolt.”

“B-Bolt…? Thought you weren’t…” Vay trailed off with another sob and rested his head against Bolt’s chest with another low sob, “H-Help me… please… he’s… gonna… no… hurt me… help...” He blubbered in between his sobs, fat tears on his cheeks. Bolt’s heart shattered into a million pieces.

_ Remember how you did this before with Dusk. Guide them out. _

“You’re safe, you’re not in danger,” Bolt reminded him, “We’re not in the lab. You’re having a flashback, you’re in the Eevee Box in the P.C. Breathe… Be calm, it’s not your fault. Breathe slowly and deeply...”

Vay seemed to relax, still crying on his chest, but his body moved when his breathing slowed, but he still seemed terrified. Bolt continued comfortingly.

“Put one paw on the floor. Do you feel the grass?” Bolt asked soothingly, “You’re okay, breathe, try it out. It’s not your fault.”

The way his words connected together were loose and in the uncanny valley for grammar addicts, but Vay seemed to understand what he was going for and tried it out. His breathing slowed and his shuddering wasn’t as terrifyingly bad. Troll and Wimp dissipated behind him, Bolt’s panic was fading with Vay’s.

“Hn… Bolt… okay… okay…”

At least he was calming down, that’s what mattered, though he still seemed in pure shock, which Bolt had come to realize was life-threatening. Going through his memories of helping himself and Dusk through flashbacks, he continued.

_ Ask them about the rest of their senses. Their vision may be a bit blurry, but everything else will be capable- _

“What do you hear?” Bolt asked, though it was weak and forced-

“V-V-Voices… your voice… others... No- Bolt… h-help me, they’re… gonna hurt me… and touch me... no… not ready… I don’t...” Vay choked out, and Bolt began to rubbing soothing circles on his back with one arm as the other continued to hug him carefully as if Vay was some kind of fragile object, making him calm himself down just as much.

“Good, Vay, you’re not there anymore, okay? You’re safe, nobody’s going to hurt you. Whatever they did… it’s not going to happen anymore. Okay? Vay, you’re alright. I need you to breathe for me, you’re home,” Bolt continued, and Vay began to finally start to calm down, going still in Bolt’s arms.

“Home…?” Vay asked in a slurred voice, “...’m home…? Not… n’t at the lab…?”

Arceus, was he okay? How often did this happen when he wasn’t around? Did this happen while he was  _ alone?  _ Regret burned like a wildfire in Bolt’s mind, but he pushed it away so Troll and Wimp wouldn’t bother him. His eyes flashed red and blue with sudden helplessness as he continued speaking.

“You’re not at the lab, Vay. I’m here,” Bolt insisted, “The other voices are the Eevees, they’re confused… they don’t know what’s going on. What do you smell, Vay?”

Vay stopped for a moment. “S’... so many s-smells… hnn, I smell… electricity… and roses… and freshly cut grass… ’m… h’me…?”

“It’s not your fault,” Bolt repeated the most true statement out of all of them, and it seemed to work the best anyway. “There you go, Vay. You can do this, I’m with you, we’re all with you, even if we’re not all here… once Dusk hears about this, he’ll help you too. And Blizz, and Flame, and Daisy.”

“B-Bl’zz-...? h‘s okay? Thought he… ‘s g’ne...” Vay drawled on once again with another sob, “He’s… gonna hurt me…”

Bolt’s breath hitched and he shook his head, wondering if Vay even acknowledged the motion. “Blizz is evolved now. He’s safe with you and everyone else, and he’s not like he was before. He’s not…”

Had Blizz even been brainwashed? Orders had been orders, perhaps Blizz had followed them even if it meant going against his nature. But punishing and deliberately hurting his younger brother… that definitely hadn’t been Blizz.

“‘s okay too-?” Vay whispered.

“Yes, he’s okay,” Bolt’s voice was thick with sadness, regret for standing idly by for so many years in attempts at comfort so long ago… “Now, breathe in for four seconds, you will get through this…”

Vay obliged, inhaling and pausing, as if waiting for Bolt’s command to exhale, which made Bolt even sadder.

“And breathe out for four seconds.”

Vay shivered under his grip, heaving out. Bolt told him to repeat a few times, and soon enough the Vaporeon was starting to slowly calm down. Bolt looked towards the crowd of Eevees with a piercing glare.

Eve had just shoved through to see what was going on in all of the commotion, breathing heavily as she still had shoved away Clef and Adam, who were having a mini squabble about something irrelevant to the situation.

The kit noticed Vay still lightly shivering in Bolt’s arms, and she gaped and looked around at everyone with her eyebrows furrowed.

“Who did this?” Eve asked, though it was more curious than angry, to Bolt’s surprise. Blizz would have been absolutely  _ pissed,  _ luckily he wasn’t there. “Bolt, what happened? Did Vay have a-?”

Bolt continued to hold the quiet and shaking Vay in his arms, still running circles more lightly on his shoulder to make him feel a bit better. “Flashback, yes. Levin said something or did something that triggered a panic attack, which escalated into a flashback. We haven’t had one of these for a few months.”

Eve turned to look at the crowd of Eevees with a gulp, not knowing how to console them. Bolt perked his ears to actually listen in on what they were saying, and the general response to such a dire situation was… sad, really.

“What’s going on?!”

“Why’s he crying?”

“When did Bolt get here?”

“Stop asking me, I don’t know…”

“But- what- I’m… confused?”

“Flashback… what’s been going on?”

“I should tell Archie about this. Maybe he’d actually listen to me for once. What do you think, Larry?”

“I’m so confused.”

“...Oh. Oh my...”

Bolt gulped and turned back to Vay, looking down at him. “Are you feeling any better? Do you need anything?”

Vay shuddered once again and slowly but surely moved his gaze to look up at him with big eyes, tail stiff as usual as a symptom of whenever he panicked. He looked confused and disoriented, like he was ready to vomit. “Wh’s goin’ on?”

Eve sat down next to them and looked around at everyone, still obviously confused. Bolt looked at her, eyes stormy and clouded over as he spoke, “Eve, I need you to go get Blizz and Dusk. They need to know about this.”

“Ah, okay!” Eve jumped up and rushed away, bolting as the crowd parted for her. She had that effect on people.

Bolt then looked down at Vay, who still looked  _ very _ confused. “You had a flashback and breakdown.” He decided not to add on that he helped him through it, that would be stupid and self-centered and… 

The anxiety came back, but Troll and Wimp didn’t appear this time.

“In… front of ev’ryon’…?” Vay’s voice was still slurred, probably due to straining it through his tears. He rose one arm to wipe some away and looked at him again. “Oh no… ‘m sorry, Bolt… I didn’t...”

“It’s fine,” Bolt insisted, “It happens sometimes. Blizz and Dusk are coming here soon, I told Eve to go get them. Do you want all these Eevees to leave so they don’t bother you? I can carry you back to your room?”

“N’t… not yet,” Vay insisted, “Need... t’ see Bl’zz.”

Thank Arceus, his will was strengthening. His voice was still obviously weak, but not as bad as before, meaning that the flashback was slipping away and he wouldn’t be as vulnerable as he was right when he got out of the attack.

They sat there for about thirty seconds until the crowd began to shift and part once again, and Eve rushed back with Dusk and Blizz behind her. Blizz abruptly rushed over to sit next to Bolt while Dusk stood there awkwardly.

“What happened?!” Blizz snapped loudly, causing Vay to flinch back with a light whimper. Regret washed over Blizz’s face and he sighed, “Who did this? What’s going on? I know it was a flashback, Eve told me, but, what was the trigger?!”

“Levin said something when he was taunting him,” Bolt muttered grimly, “He had a panic attack, and something about the attack must have triggered a flashback. It could have been just Levin’s word choice or tone, though.”

Bolt looked behind his shoulder and noticed Dusk herding away the confused crowd of Eevees, leaving Bolt relieved that they wouldn’t be a real issue. He turned back to see Blizz’s eyes glowing with green, but he refused to look down at Vay as if it’d cause another trigger. It was a rather smart decision, actually.

“I’m guessing it was about the lab,” Blizz growled in a whisper so he wouldn’t come off as threatening, “I’ll need to have a ‘talk’ with Levin. Was anyone else involved or was it just him? I’ll have a talk with them, too.”

“Mike and Tike were there, Kevin and Devin weren’t but they were overall associated with the prank itself, which included fire,” Bolt explained, and Blizz’s green eyes darkened, glowing ferociously.

“It seems so in character but at the same time so wrong,” Blizz growled. “Bolt, can you take him back to his room? Nego probably needs him.”

It was almost funny to see Blizz acting so serious, but whatever. After the situation at the lab finally came back to him, he started to gain some of his more leader-like traits from all that time ago… not counting the beginning when he had hurt many of his own brothers and killed and tortured so many mon…

Shaking those faint memories away so he wouldn’t summon Troll and Wimp, Bolt scooped up the Vaporeon in a weak grip in case it would set anything off again, because neither of them needed that. Vay was still shuddering weakly, he had most likely worn himself out from all of the crying and shaking from before. Pain, in a way, was exhausting.

Being careful not to jostle him too much, Bolt carried Vay from the grassy clearing back into the house, hearing confused mutterings from the ‘vees who spoke about the attack, some in more harsh tones than others.

Vay nuzzled up to his neck with a silent heave, slow breaths prominent and deeper than usual. Bolt appreciated the effort hs was putting in to keeping himself under control, at least he would have understood it on a personal level.

Stepping up a few flights of stairs, Bolt reappeared up at the top floor where Icedrop resided. It was calm, the usual bustle completely extinguished from the current breaking news going on. Bolt hummed, walking down the silent hallway and to Vay’s room, located not far from Blizz’s. 

Unfortunately, it had been boarded up a long time ago from the outside and still was for some reason, Vay continuously refusing to take it off even when Blizz had attempted and gotten yelled at for it.

Unsure of how to open the door, Bolt ended up pushing it open with his whole body, heaving with the effort as Vay said nothing in his arms. It took about five embarrassing minutes of complete silence other than sniffles and hiccups from Vay and frustrated grunting and angry noises from Bolt.

He finally managed to get the door open, making the shushing noise as he entered. Nego had known it as the protocol for when his dad was having a bad day, so he was quiet as his head poked out from the bed he had taken up close to Vay’s. His eyes lit up and he got to his paws, muttering something inaudible in a different language.

Bolt set him down on his bed, not sure if he should let go or not. Nego was being as careful as possible, still whispering something foreign, as Vay didn’t move from Bolt’s arms, but the Jolteon didn’t make any effort to bother him.

Sometimes, everyone deserved to let it out before they were ready to loosen up. Vay was a distinct example full of twists and turns, and Bolt knew he had to be patient just for him. It felt like the right thing to do, really.

He whispered soothing words until finally, Vay carefully pulled away from his grip, face flushed with embarrassment that Bolt shared on an intense level. He muttered something to Nego, who quickly got to his paws to do something, and looked at Bolt with dark eyes and a still red face, eyes darting back and forth.

“Uh… Bolt, sorry.”

He didn’t press, giving him a warm smile that had been his first genuine one in a while, though the anxiety still sucked. He considered patting Vay’s head, but the expression was definitely something sharp and antisocial, so he just replied,

“No problem. I can ask Blizz to make up an excuse about it.”

Vay frowned, but said nothing, waving his paws dismissively. Bolt found it as his cue to leave, and found the door open for him by Nego, before being slammed behind him. He looked around his shoulder nervously to see nothing behind him except metal, and continued.

He walked to the Lightfire area, to his room, slamming the wooden door behind him. Bolt hugged his knees, sliding down the surface of the door until his head was against it, and promptly had a panic attack to fill the gaps of his own silence.


	2. Stargazing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Instinctively, Bolt sent his eyes towards the sky, trying to find the perfect choice of words to give without making it seemed force or sudden. He eventually gathered himself together and asked, completely serious,
> 
> “Vay, what do the stars look like?”

Bolt knew that Vay was dealing with a lot and had begun to trust Bolt more as a person, but he didn’t know the Vaporeon would  _ actively seek him out. _

During the calm nights where the Eevees of all houses would sleep, Bolt would find himself sitting down and gazing at the night sky that Blizz would make. He had never actually gotten to see real stars before, not that he could remember, but this was his closest. No constellations for him to view like in the stories.

He was…. Content with the alternative. If Blizz would stop putting up “BLIZZ IS AWESOME” every time that he got the chance, perhaps things would be even better, but there wasn’t really anyone to console that. Nobody cared except Bolt, why waste the energy with negotiating about a better sky?

The one time he’d been given control of the night sky was funny. Remembering everything he could, he pieced it together perfectly, and Blizz actually got  _ angry  _ at him because he had “one-upped” his sky or something. Blizz was scary, but at the same time it was so funny that Bolt couldn’t even manage to be afraid.

Feeling the artificial grass underfoot, he sat down and felt the soothing wind in his fur. It was nice, being in the quiet, away from the bustling voices of the Eevees in the rooms and Dean’s obvious banter to himself (he talked in his sleep) whenever they worked themselves too thin and passed out in the archives.

Yeah.

There was nothing that could destroy this peace. So transfixed on what was in front of him, his purple eyes scanning the sky that Blizz had created, he considered laying down just to get a better feeling to it. He was just straining his neck at this point, perhaps he could go further out into the P.C to be more away from people.

Getting off his butt to stand up, he stretched his arms and felt thin electricity crackle between his spikes. Whenever he felt a strong emotion - this one relatively calmness and carelessness - it usually happened, and he learned not to question it. It didn’t actually hurt anyone. He’d have known when he was comforting his brother a few days ago.

Humming, Bolt began to walk serenely, further away from the house, but his internal monologue got cut off by a familiar voice.

The way he actually recognized it as soon as it had sounded was how uncertain the tone was, how it felt like a bother to him when he froze, how his words ended by fading away and the awkwardness and lack of communication in his tone.

“Bolt…?”

Speak of the devil.

Bolt turned slowly around and saw Vay standing there, holding one arm. He looked nervous to be talking to his brother, tail frozen in place as a sign of anxiety. His deep blue eyes seemed to study the ground like it was the most important thing in the world. How long had his brother been there before he finally mustered the strength to speak up?

Did he think was Bolt was angry and not worth his time? That wasn’t the case, though he was a bit surprised, because his eyebrows shot up and he gave an expression pretty far from what he was actually feeling, mouth agape.

Surprised was an understatement.

Vay recoiled, hair falling in his face. “Jeez, Bolt… This is your personal time… sorry, I’ll just go to Dusk-”

“Wait-” Bolt instantly sat down and patted the ground next to him, much to Vay’s dismay, prominent in his expression. “I was just sitting a little closer the stars. Care to join me and tell me what’s wrong?”

Strongly hesitating, Vay stood next to him for a moment, before sitting down next to him and shivering at the warm nip of wind that Bolt had found as comfort most of the time. Bolt looked at him curiously.

This was the first time someone - anyone - had gone to Bolt when they were in a bad mood. Especially Vay. That vaporeon would run away in fear he’d be judged every time, not counting the two times he had absolutely broke down because of a flashback. Remembering the fact that Flame had messed up both of those times, he gulped. If he failed this now, would Vay trust anyone ever again?

He couldn’t mess it up.

Vay shivered to himself, mouth opening and closing as he tried to find a good response to him. Bolt let him take his time, until finally his emotions poured out into one word, thick with emotion, “Nightmare.”

Bolt patted the vaporeon’s shoulder with a frown to match. “Hey, how bad was it? Still beating you up after it’s over?”

Vay nodded.

“There’s probably a way to prevent those, you know. We can ask Dusk to pull some ropes and get you something exported into the P.C. He’s rather good with doing that,” Bolt hummed at the end of his sentence.

The vaporeon furrowed his eyebrows. “I don’t need any ropes pulled for me,” he growled, voice with a lack of venom as he shivered, “I go in and out of the P.C as I wish. If I need medication or something, I can go and get it myself.”

Bolt stifled an audible gasp. Vay had actually seen the stars he hadn’t ever remembered. He reminded himself to ask him later, but now wasn’t the time. Not until their conversation was basically over.

“The real world is dangerous…” Bolt muttered, “How do you not get yourself into awkward and annoying situations, or worse?”

Vay frowned. “I do.”

“Then why are you going out?”

“I’m a firefighter,” Vay grumbled, desperately clinging to any defense he could, “It’s how I make money… I’m just out there to do my job. That’s my personal opinion, Bolt…” Once again, he seemed defensive, and Bolt didn’t press.

Bolt bumped his shoulder with his, “Well, I digress. What happened in your nightmare? Was it about the lab?”

Vay, a bit nervous to answer this question, nodded hesitantly. “Not one about Blizz. More ‘bout him.”

“Him?”

The vaporeon stared at him like Bolt expected him to get it. It took him a moment, and then he gave a drawled out “Ohhhhh.”

“I see why that’s, uh, bad?” Bolt offered, still incredibly bad at this. He was learning some new things, like the fact that he’s extremely bad at comforting (and having normal conversations) unless it’s in the heat of the moment.

“Other than the fact that I probably deserved that all, yeah, bad, to you all,” Vay hugged his knees, lowering his head into his shoulders.

“No way?” Bolt chuckled, which caused Vay to tense next to him, like Bolt was mocking him. Pushing away the thought of that reaction, he continued. “Vay, do you understand how brave you are? It’s even so brave to seek someone out like this.”

He looked at him, confused. “Really? Brave? I’ve…” He frowned, brushing some of the hair out of his face with his paws, “I’ve never heard that one before.”

“Then everyone you work with is an idiot.”

Vay smiled at him, and they sat in silence. It seemed to be the comfort Vay needed, and now Bolt’s mere presence was a whole new tool of comfort, just being alone and watching the non-existent stars.

Perfect time to pop the question then.

Eyes glassy and hazed over, Bolt managed a paper thin smile, purple eyes meeting the floor. Vay had leaned dangerously close to him, and Bolt could feel his brother shivering against his shoulder. The nightmare must still have clung to him after their little conversation, which sucked a lot.

Instinctively, Bolt sent his eyes towards the sky, trying to find the perfect choice of words to give without making it seemed force or sudden. He eventually gathered himself together and asked, completely serious,

“Vay, what do the stars look like?”

The vaporeon’s attention instantly slapped to him, all of the serenity draining out of the atmosphere. He visibly bit the inside of mouth by the way his cheek dipped in, eyes narrowing and darting around nervously.

“Forgot you didn’t know,” Vay said brokenly, “The stars are just like these, except…” he stopped, contemplating for a moment. “They have patterns that aren’t obvious, some are brighter, and if you look focused enough you may even see Venus. It’s honestly so pretty… Why haven’t you seen it?” He smiled softly and looked at him.

“I have, I just don’t… remember it,” Bolt admitted, purple eyes reflecting the stars.

Vay looked downwards, shadow cast over his deep blue and making it seem much darker. Bolt frowned at his response, saying as calm as he could, “I was just wondering what they looked like, don’t take it so seriously. One day I’ll get to see them myself, I promise that.”

The vaporeon next to him pointed his muzzle upwards to gaze once again, this time leaning against Bolt’s shoulder. “Maybe I can help you. Maybe one day I’ll show you the stars, somewhere that humans can’t bother you.”

Bolt gaped at Vay’s response. He honestly wasn’t expecting that.

But he smiled anyway. “Yeah. Maybe.”

“I’ll find the prettiest place in Sinnoh and I’ll take us all there,” Vay was promising to himself more than anyone, eyes glazed over as the smile turned genuine. Bolt’s mind drew into thoughts on how much Vay really did love everyone as family, though he was too afraid to tell anyone. Vay was the bravest ‘mon that Bolt had ever met, for finding his way through the dark paths, even with questionable coping methods. 

“I’ll bring Blizz and Dusk and Eve and you and Flame and Dawn and Daisy… And we can sit under the stars and play. Have fun. Perhaps lead lives like we never went to that place,” Vay drawled.

Bolt didn’t want to disturb Vay’s train of thought. It was eerily similar to his, only a few changes made in his plan. He had just wanted to mend family bonds and make everyone whole with each other again, but Vay wished for genuine happiness.

He could relate, so he looked at Vay, eyes lit with enthusiasm, and replied, “That sounds like a perfect idea.”


	3. Hoodies & Fever Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vay looked so weak when he was sick.

Vay looked so weak when he was sick.

It was something about the way he curled up, clutching his chest with both of his arms, a shivering mess tangled in the sheets, the occasional pitchy, hitched gasp, blue eyes half-lidded though filled with clear slurred fear, and the occasional choked sob that really beat Bolt’s heart to death with a hammer.

It was also the fact that sickness didn’t automatically heal. Not even Dusk, who had most literally tried _everything,_ could beat off this nasty fever. It really made Bolt wonder if they’d have to take him out of the P.C, which would only really be a last resort.

The fever dreams especially were an experience.

Bolt didn’t know what really put Vay on edge about fever dreams. The rare times that Bolt got actually sick in the P.C to that point only ended in weird things, but things he never remembered except for faint flashes. He didn’t necessarily expect a fever dream to be the cause of someone crying… especially someone who’d only do it when it was _really that bad._ Contrary to popular belief, Vay didn’t cry that much. Not unless the distress was genuine.

There were some other side things that really scared Bolt too. First of all, he had begun to avoid looking Blizz in the eyes whenever he was in the room. He had come to notice that Blizz was _fiercely_ protective of his twin, especially in this state, and would probably kill him if he tried anything comforting. There was also the fact that Dusk really started acting like he was useless about it, perhaps angry enough at himself to even lash out.

It wasn’t a pretty sight.

But of course, since the world really loved to get him in even more trouble, the time that the fever spiked was while Bolt was sent to look after him and make sure he didn’t get any worse… so yeah. It got worse.

The fever had just kind of appeared a few days ago, and there was no sign of recovery. Blizz has specially put up the most comfortable bed he could find and had placed it in the corner of his room for Vay to sleep in, and that had actually helped it a bit. Occasionally, he would vomit too, but there was a bucket for that. In the fear of him getting weaker, he had even started eating almost every day.

A whimper cut him out of his thoughts.

Almost immediately, still paranoid from basically everything, he turned quickly over to Vay’s bed, purple eyes wide with curiosity. “Vay?”

His voice had no help with guiding the Vaporeon out of his slumber. Vay’s shoulders were shivering, eyes squeezed shut, completely tensed up like he was about to be attacked as he whispered, sounding painful and strained like every word was laborious, “N-No.”

Before Bolt could speak, harsh coughs wracked Vay’s shivering frame. He curled up to his pillow, pressing his face into the soft surface, face completely flushed. Bolt couldn’t imagine how much pain he was in.

He got off his chair and approached Vay, feeling his head. He was really burning up, blistering heat rolling off his forehead in waves, it had spiked to a dangerous point above how it had been before. It had only started out as a small _cold,_ for Arceus’ sake… Blizz had just been paranoid and had ordered him to sleep before it got any worse. Vay had then attempted to sneak out a few times, before promptly passing out as the thing had spiked right in front of their eyes. It honestly scared everyone, including Bolt himself. He had tried to keep his natural gentle and questioning composure, but with his amount of fear, he was deadly quiet, confused, afraid, and doing his best despite the unfortunate circumstances.

Bolt didn’t realize he had made it so much worse until Vay whined again, rolling away as far as possible from him, still stuck in the tangle of blankets, blocking his face defenselessly with his arms and whispering a slurred mess of words that he couldn’t make out.

He tried to ignore how Vay moved and get away so he didn't make anything worse. He really didn't want to hurt Vay anymore than the Vaporeon already was in pain, and he'd recover faster if he was left how he was now, not constantly being fawned over. Perhaps Vay had noticed that, and it was the reason he had insisted on his escape attempts before it got any worse.

He thought it was just going to be a simple cold, easy to work with. Bolt couldn't help but wonder what mods permitted to make sickness possible in the P.C, but then again, their mother's spine had once literally cracked in two due to something that Dusk had supposedly done. Still questioning it, he turned to sit back down and ignore his brother for a while before he gasped out with a heavy sob.

"Oh Arceus... oh man... Vay, are you okay?" Bolt called from not far from the bed, hoping that his voice would intercept his brother's nightmare/fever dream thing. Those were usually more real and easy to remember than normal dreams, which only meant trouble. He didn't think it'd actually work until a scarily low husky tone, a voice whimpered back,

_"B-Bolt?"_

So Vay had some kind of competence. At this point, he must have been hallucinating, because he outstretched his arm with a choked chirrup, eyes half-lidded as sweat pooled around the sheets. Bolt immedieatly rushed to his brother's side again, kneeling down and grabbing his outstretched paw, rubbing it with a bad attempt to soothe him. Comfort wasn't really his thing.

"Vay," He huffed out, trying not to sound as exasperated as he felt. Knowing his brother, he'd take it a sign of being annoying and probably would stop seeking out comfort in him, fever dream or not. "You're okay. It's a fever dream."

The Vaporeon squeezed his eyes shut, thrashing for a moment in his sheets as he blocked his face with both arms, recoiling in an instinctive action as he whimpered out a few slurred and inaudible words that really tugged at Bolt's heartstrings, but it couldn't break him more than it already had before. Basically, Vay had taken his heart, smashed it into little tiny pieces, and then apologized for it.

He didn't want his brother feeling sad like that anymore. He didn't want this to affect him like the hallucination did, or their chat before. Maybe he also wanted some bonding time with someone he had grown to appreciate a bit more without being interrupted by feelings or tears. Contrary to popular belief, casualty was a nice add-on, too, but usually the only time they got a chance to connect was through an accidental situation.

It was more of a half-complaint.

Vay began to shiver again, breath hitching as he seemed afraid to even  _breathe._ Bolt continued to rub his paw in a comforting manner, but he didn't look at his face. He already looked weak and pained enough, he didn't want to feel even worse about not being able to do anything. If Dusk already couldn't, what was the point of trying other than simple small things?

"Hey," Bolt tried again, but Vay flinched at that. He continued anyway. "I-I'm... not gonna hurt you."

Vay opened his eyes and met them for a moment, which surprised him. He looked impossibly scared, almost with childish surprise, like he couldn't believe it. They stared at each other awkwardly, before the delirium caught up to him and Vay teared up, curling in on himself and hiding his face in his knees, body shivering with choked, fearful sobs. Bolt couldn't tell if they were from relief or fear.

"Oh no, Vay- I'm not gonna..." He trailed off. What was he going to say? "Y-You're not in any trouble, I promise. Are you- uh- okay?"

Silence.

Another sob shattered the peace. So no, then.

Bolt's ears flattened down to the back of his head and he contemplated what to do, purple eyes calm and calculating as he looked down towards the crying Vaporeon before him, still filled with concern. He'd never felt so driven to do something ever since they had just escaped from the lab, where he had hoped to help everyone out as much as he could. He didn't miss those days.

An idea sparked in his mind.

Hesitantly, glancing back at his crying brother, Bolt stood up, brushing down his fur almost instinctively as he turned away, occasionally flashing concerned looks towards Vay as he made his way to leave the room. He didn't want to leave Vay here, but otherwise he didn't have much of a choice. He'd just have to get this over with as quick as possible.

* * *

When Bolt walked in, carrying a bowl of soup, Vay was sitting up, staring at the wall. With a sluggish haze, he noticed Bolt and snapped out of his thought, though he didn't seem to be acting with the same alertness as usual.

Vay nodded towards him with a certainty, a look of fondness in his eyes that normally wouldn't have been there a few months ago. They'd really connected a bit over time. "Bolt..." He whispered, like he couldn't be happier to see him. "Sorry."

Bolt set the soup on the chair. It was still hot, so it had time to cool anyway.

"You don't have to apologize, Vay," Bolt replied, looking towards him a bit awkwardly.

"Sorry," Vay repeated, like a confirmation. He crossed his legs, still sitting up, eyes flashing nervously towards the steaming soup as he looked at Bolt with clear confusion, quivering. "What's that?"

Bolt smiled at him, trying not to drawl on the whole sorry problem. "Oh! Blizz made it for you, and since he's busy with brotherhood stuff since you're sick, he let me give it to you for now. Are you feeling much better?"

Vay didn't respond to his question. He stared at the soup, eyebrows furrowing as he gaped at it with clear surprise. His blue eyes turned to Bolt, blinking with confusion. "W-Wait... Blizz... Made that?" A moment of silence, before he added on in a quiet and unsure voice, "...for me?"

Bolt wanted to cry.  _Really bad._ He picked up the worst in how Vay acted, because he could relate to it. He noticed the smaller signs of PTSD, of his depression, of his needs to have some source of comfort, even if he wasn't that good at it. Flame definitely showed them, but unlike Vay, he wasn't afraid to assert himself. He wasn't afraid of taking gifts, of eating, sometimes even  _breathing_ loudly or disturbing someone. That meant something.

Bolt tried not to look fazed, so he put on his best cheery face and handed it happily to him, "Of course. It's the least he could do, right? You're out here suffering and he wants to spend more time around you."

Vay took it nervously and stared at it, shoulders relaxing. He stared at it, eyes darting from the soup to Bolt, like he was uncertain to do anything to it. He then rasped out, as quiet as he was before, which wasn't making Bolt's fake-jolly composure much better. "...I can actually have it, right? You're not joking around? Is this poisoned or something...?"

"Of course," Bolt responded gently, voice becoming soft.

A foreign look flashed in Vay's eyes, like they sparked with a different color, before he quickly blinked it away and huffed, avoiding Bolt's gaze. Hesitant, tensing up, he took a small sip and immedieatly recoiled.

"Hot!" He squeaked, looking embarrassed about how high his voice went, face flushing even further. He seemed to be biting his tongue as he set the thing on the chair once again, but even then he didn't look sure about it.

Bolt smiled, "You can wait for it to cool, buddy. I'm sure Blizz won't mind."

Vay sighed with relief.

The door clicked as a figure walked in.

_Oh Arceus, what now,_ As kind as Bolt was acting, he was actually kind of enjoying having some precious time with his brother. He had dealt with years of Vay laying low, avoiding everyone's gazes, being afraid to socialize. Ever since his breakdown and the positive response to it, he was finally starting to open up, and now Bolt was getting his fair share of time with someone he cared about, but some kind of interruption always broke them out of it.

Dusk nervously stood in the doorway. "Mind if I come in?"

Vay looked towards Bolt, who nodded and responded. Vay wasn't even certain about responding. "...No. We don't mind."  _Ugh._ Jealousy flicked annoyingly at his heart, and he mentally slapped himself for it.

Dusk made a beeline for Vay.

“Um, Vay?” Dusk asked timidly, walking further into the room. He seemed to be holding something in one paw, though he was a bit nervous, as if expecting his brother to just drop dead right there. “Since I couldn’t find a way to heal you, I thought I’d just give you this.”

Dusk walked over and handed something made out of fabric to Vay. Almost instantly, the Vaporeon attempted to sniff it, but ended up sneezing, face turning redder with embarrassment as he stretched it out. In his paws was a black hoodie with white strings. The scariest thing was how absolutely  _ huge  _ it looked, but the Vaporeon, by his reaction, didn’t seem to care less about the size of it. 

Vay stared at it like he couldn’t believe it, eyes flashing with a foreign color before he blinked it away. Immediate attachment ensued as he quickly slipped it on. The thing was human size,  _ much much  _ too big for him, so much that Vay’s paws were basically hidden in the thing, and it was all the way down to his legs, but he didn’t seem to care. Admiring the thing, he smiled at Dusk.

He didn't seem used to the gifts. "...Thanks..."

Dusk smiled, something genuine, as Bolt watched awkwardly. The two shared a few words, having a conversation like they knew each other  _so_ well, before Dusk said a calm goodbye and left.

More awkward silence.

Bolt huffed, sitting next to Vay, who was wiping his runny nose on the sleeve of his hoodie, the other paw toying with the strings as his eyes clouded with thought. Concern began to swell in the place where anxiousness was, but Bolt asked his question anyway.

“Hey, Vay?” Bolt asked, “How did you get such a bad fever in the P.C anyway? Bacteria doesn’t even exist here.”

Vay froze. He stopped wiping his nose and instantly pulled on the strings of his hoodie, covering his face and squeaking deliriously, voice still clearly strained from his sore throat. “Nyooooo! I-It’s medical stuff, I don’t have to talk about it!”

Bolt sighed, patting his brother's shoulder, almost expecting the wince in response. Vay, unless he was having a breakdown in front of a bunch of Eevees or was tired after a bad nightmare, didn't like touching. Those were oddly specific scenarios, but both he had dealt with.

"How often do you leave the P.C? Arceus, you must be doing some dangerous stuff if you're out there enough to get sick. Didn't you say you were a..." Bolt hesitated, "Firefighter, right? Or was it something different? My memory's not the best, sorry."

Vay stopped for a moment, showing his face again, humming with amusement before promptly breaking into a coughing fit. Bolt leaned forwards to help him, but Vay lifted one paw in a sign of  _STOP_ and then looked towards him with a tiny smile, replying. "...Yeah, somethin' like that. Close enough, whatever." He went silent again, which really put Bolt on edge.

Arceus, this kid. Bolt could hardly get anything truthful out of him. Vay had always been secretive and cryptic, but Bolt hadn't released it was this bad until he witnessed it firsthand. No matter Blizz complained about it, he had a reason to.

"I'll need you to be closer, then..." Bolt offered, hating himself for his choice of wording. He rephrased it in a deeper, more obvious way that was much less condescending. "Look, Vay. I know you're scared to talk about yourself and your personal life, but no matter what, I'm not going to judge you. Opening up is taking one more step towards recovery, and I only want you to feel better. If you're still not comfortable with it, I can just drop it now. Tell us if when you're ready."

Bolt stood up to leave, perhaps to give Vay a moment, but he was quickly cut off as Vay whimpered, "B-Bolt, wait. I-I actually did want to tell you... about something. Just, very quick. N-Nobody really knows 'bout this... so... don't tell anyone."

Bolt was at his side immedieatly, waiting patiently. "I'm all ears. Fire away."

Vay looked at him, tipping his head to the side as he began.

"...Well, I... have this power..."

 


	4. Stargazing [Reprise]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally. Bolt gets to see the stars. The real stars.

“Bolt?”

Bolt had been working with Dean when Vay’s voice cut him out of his thoughts. Dean, next to him, didn’t even flinch. His partner seemed more busy in his work than with whatever was going on, which was actually kind of relieving.

He turned with a confused smile, shoulders slumping. His eyes flickered to Dean and then back to Vay again, standing up from his spot on the floor. A spike of curiosity struck him. Usually Vay didn’t really approach him except for that one time. He was always the one approaching and dealing with things.

Last time Vay had approached Bolt like this, it had been because of a nightmare. What had happened this time? It was very late in the night, and Bolt was used to working over the time he was supposed to. Him and Dean usually bonded through silence; it was like an “introvert’s unite” kind of thing, which was a nice silence compared to the bustle of almost every other extroverted Eevee in the P.C. It was nice.

The rare times that Vay actually spoke to him had to have very specific context. Vay looked very nervous before his eyes lit with determination and he gave one of the rare, small smiles that could only be described as cute.

“I need to talk to you. Do you- um, mind if we go into the hallway?” Vay gestured to Dean, who looked up from his spot, ear twitching. Dean was silent, but he ended up nodding and going back to his work.

Bolt flashed Dean a cheerful smile. Dean snorted and growled, right ear twitching. They kind of had a language like that, which meant he didn’t appreciate the sentiment. Bolt bit his tongue and followed Vay into the hallway.

“Okay,” Bolt leaned against the wall. It was late in the night, so the halls were strangely silent. The halls weren’t lit.

Vay’s shoulders were shaking. He gulped, knees shaking. “B-Bolt… so… you’ve been really nice to me lately, and I want to, um… do something back, y’know…?” He looked at him longingly, eyes showing an unreadable expression.

Bolt smiled, “That sounds nice, I guess- If you really want to, that’s great. What do you have in mind? I’m chill with anything that’s ghost-free.”

Vay flinched at that. They’d shared their powers after the whole fever incident, which gave them a bigger emotional connection. Though they hadn’t spoken since then, there was never a reason to, occasionally they’d exchange glances while walking by each other, and Nego seemed to be more friendly with him.

“It’s a surprise,” Vay snapped, then recoiled when he realized how angry that’d come out. “Just… wait a moment, okay? Tomorrow. I don’t want you to be confused after you wake up outside of the P.C.”

Bolt froze, “But… ghosts?”

“You’ll see.”

* * *

Vay was right.

Bolt woke up outside of the P.C. He knew because there was a lack of artificial air that he was so used to breathing, and his stomach slightly hurt with hunger, and the grass underneath his paws felt scarily real compared to whatever was in the P.C.

He flinched because of a presence next to him, hesitating. He didn’t move. Vay had said it was a surprise, and he wasn’t going to doubt him. Surprises were usually involved with blindfolds, right? He’d read that before, once in a book he didn’t really remember. He didn’t get surprised that often.

Suddenly, he felt paws on his shoulders, guiding him upward to stand bipedal. “Vay?” He muttered with confusion.

“Yeah- ‘m sorry… just wanted to keep the sense of surprise,” Vay said. He huffed, which sounded suspiciously like a laugh, and a big wide smile grew on his face. Vay was laughing? Today was truly interesting.

They walked through the grass - it was obviously a field, similar to the one in the P.C. Except the breeze ruffled his fur, and Vay was guiding him, completely blind, up a hill. They were going to see something, maybe? But what about the ghosts? Wouldn’t that be an issue? There was an abundance of ghosts in every town.

Suddenly, Vay bumped his shoulder with his own, and Bolt could hear him sit down in the grass next to him. Bolt followed his motion, sitting down in the soft grass, relishing in the breeze. His hearing seemed better when he couldn’t see anything.

Suddenly, he felt paws on the back of his blindfold, slowly untying it. Bolt smiled at it was lifted, and then slowly but surely, he blinked open his eyes, staring upward at the sky. Then he couldn’t help but gasp - gasped  _ loudly,  _ because this was beautiful.

There were no ghosts anywhere around them. Vay was sitting right there, right next to him, and they were staring at the stars. The  _ real  _ stars. The moon shone in the sky, full and casting silver light on their fur. Flecked everywhere, spilled into the sky, were patterns and constellations of stars, the sky around it black, and in some places even gleaming a purple-ish color. When squinting, Bolt could faintly see something that looked a bit like another galaxy, and he felt a huge smile appearing on his face.

Bolt turned to Vay, who was staring with a peaceful smile on his face. The promise that he’d bring everyone out here one day echoed in his head. It wasn’t easy to get everyone together like this, but at least he tried with one person. It was one step, one very worth it step.

“Vay, you-” He couldn’t help but tear up at the very sight of it. He turned to Vay, ready to charge him with arms open, but flinched back, “Oh, yeah… no hugs, nevermind.” Vay disliked hugs immensely unless there were special cases.

Vay searched his eyes, sensing his disappointment, and huffed with a chuckle. This wasn’t one that sounded suspiciously like it, this was full on laughter, and he was trying to hold back his smile and failing. Vay’s eyes darted back up to the sky, and then looked right back at him, and he shrugged. “...I guess this time, you can hug me.”

Bolt’s eyes lit up. He lunged forward, wrapping Vay in his arms, digging his face into Vay’s shoulder blade. The vaporeon hesitated, before very slowly returning the hug, and he could feel the smile in his words, which slowly turned into fear.

“Bolt… Bolt- choking me-”

“Oh!” Bolt pulled away, “I’m sorry…” He said, clearly anxious, giving a confused smile, backing away, staring back at the stars.

He was much closer to Vay at the point, and he could feel Vay lean against his side, putting his head on his shoulder.

_ I’ll find the prettiest place in Sinnoh and I’ll take us all there. I’ll bring Blizz and Dusk and Eve and you and Flame and Dawn and Daisy… And we can sit under the stars and play. Have fun. Perhaps lead lives like we never went to that place… _

Bolt looked down at him, curled up to his side. Vay was staring into the distance, before looking at Bolt was a sleepy grin on his face. It was so nice to see Vay like this. Finally, a conversation without a single tear shed, or a few tears that caused the conversation in the first time. Just pure fun, even if it was peaceful and quiet.

“When do you think we’ll be able to go with your dream?” Bolt asked. 

Vay leaned more into his touch. Bolt didn’t hesitate to casually wrap his arm around his brother, huffing as Vay accepted it. Maybe this was what Vay needed more than anything. A little bit of platonic love to make him feel better. He rarely got that, he rarely actually accepted it. Maybe he was too afraid to accept it.

“One day… but I’m happy with this too.”

“Yeah… it’s quieter.”

With Vay curled up at his side, the stars twinkling like spilled sugar above, Bolt emotionally bathed in the tranquillity. The silence was loud, in its own way, and he was in the real world this time. Away from ghosts, away from all of the chaos of his home, away from Dean, away from every haunting reminder of the lab.

Vay yawned, exhausted. Bolt looked down at him again and gave a warm, kind smile, before his eyes turned back to the stars. The past few weeks had been exhausting, from the breakdown to the fever. Now, after him doing everything he could for Vay to come out of his shell, Vay was repaying the favor with finally letting him go somewhere ghost-free.

Maybe it was going to be okay after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long to update lmao. I'm just an idiot.


End file.
